Chinese Government provides SCR 52.4 million grant for Phase 3 of Corgate Housing Project (Linked to Project ID#73585 and ID#73584)

On February 26, 2015, the Chinese Government and the Government of Seychelles signed an exchange of letters related to Phase 3 of the Corgate Housing Project. China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) was the source of funding and it committed approximately SCR 52.4 million in total. The purpose of the Corgate Housing Project was to completely rebuild 157 outdated housing units (that were torn down) and further increase the capacity of the Corgate Housing estate to a total of 191 units (through the construction of of four blocks of 32 affordable housing units with three bedrooms each). Phase 1 (captured in Project ID#73584) involved the construction of 13 housing units and it was completed in 2008. Phase 2 (captured in Project ID#73585) involved the construction of 20 housing units and it was nearly complete as of 2015. Phase 3 (captured in Project ID#55616). involved the construction of construction of four blocks of 32 affordable housing units (with three bedrooms each) in the Corgate community within Mont Fleuri District. Phase 3 construction began on June 30, 2017, but an official groundbreaking ceremony did not take place until July 13, 2017. China Architecture Northeast Design Institute and Shenyang Engineering Supervision Consulting were the contractors responsible for project design. Huashan International Engineering (also known as Top International Engineering Corporation) was the contractor responsible for project implementation. During a site visit in April 2018, the Seychellois Housing Minister said 16 units should have been completed by June 2018 and all the demolition was scheduled to end in December 2019. Then, on July 7, 2018, the project passed an on-site MOFCOM inspection. MOFCOM conducted another on-site inspection on September 23, 2019. Phase 3 was ultimately completed and handed over to the Government of Seychelles on August 6, 2020.

Additional details

This project is also known as the Seychelles Residence Project and Phase 3 of the Corgate Estate Residence Project or Phase 3 of the Corgate Estate Redevelopment Project. The Chinese project title is 塞舌尔住房项目一期 or 塞柯盖特住房项目 or 我援塞柯盖特住房项目 or 塞舌尔住房项目. The Government of Seychelles’ PSIP 2018 Budget report indicates the Chinese Government provided SCR 52,412,000 of grant funding for this project, of which SCR 25,422,000 would be disbursed in 2018 and SCR 26,991,000 would be disbursed 2019. AidData relies on these grant commitment amounts because they are more recent than the grant commitment amounts listed in the Government of Seychelles’ PPBB Statements from 2016 and its Budget Strategy & Outlook 2017 report. A supplemental agreement on Phase 3 of the Corgate Housing Project was signed on January 19, 2018, but a separate project record has not been created because the agreements seems to be related to logistical issues (delays, acreage, scheduling) instead of additional financing (see: 22/1/2018 Embassy article, 3/2/2017 State House press release).

Number of official sources

15

Number of total sources

22